Fire Tortoise
The Fire Tortoise (aka: Fire Crab, Lava Turtle, Terrorpene) is a reptilian lava elemental that can only be found near active volcanoes. They are most common in the Southern Scorched Lands. Appearace As its name suggests, the Fire Tortoise resembles a large terrestrial terrapin. This creature is rougly twice the size of the average pony and weighs more than an adult buffalo. This creatures has dark stone-like skin, a jewel-encrusted spiked shell, thick elephant-like legs, and glowing red-orange cracks all over their body. The fire tortoise also has a short horn on the tip of it's vaguely dragon-like head. Behavior The Fire Tortoise is a indifferent and slow creature minding it's only business until attacked directly and forcefully. Said business normally involves eating through rocks and lava or burnable matter to feed its hot core consisting of a big gem inbued with volatile lava magic. At night, the Fire Tortoise usually immerses itself in lava to prevent it from chilling out. In such cases, the Fire Tortoise's hide becomes much darker and more brittle until the whole creature is frozen to a brilliant black statue called a Sepulchral. But the creature knows very well how to prevent this by storing charcoal and gems within its shell, able to feed itself for days with its reserves. While not sentient, the Fire Tortoise is a surprisingly clever user of the rare lava magic, able to easily melt tunnels and burning its food or anyone daring to attack the solitary traveler. This creature's eyes and the gems in its shell glow bright orange when doing so. Once every hundred years, these creatures are said to meet in larger numbers and lay their eggs in deep caverns near the molten heart of the world. Like dragons, the lifespan of the Fire Tortoise seems hypothetically endless, as no one has observed one long enough to know how old all the dead statues really are. Commodities The large gem on the Fire Tortoises inside (also called a "Lava Heart/Core") is the goal of many monster hunters (or rather "monster poachers") and grows with the creature age. The Lava Heart is only properly aquireable when the tortoise is alive, because it becomes brittle like everything else if the power burns out. However, killing the large monster without causing the volatile core to blow up is very hard. This makes Lava Hearts and their contained magic one of the rarest and most precious items in all the Known World. Weapons especially profit from the incredibly hot power, but all kinds of other uses are possible, though they are usually considered a waste of the seldom opportunity. Additionally, it's the only gem able to create Lava Golems. The gems in its shell contain lava magic only in trace amounts, but are very pure and seem to allow very subtle use of magic even by non-magic users. Combating & Weaknesses The best way is to just leave the creature alone, but not even bugging or playing the Fire Tortoise will result in more than a light push of heat, not to speak of an attack of the grumpy yet benevolent elemental. Attacking the creature, on the other hoof, is not recommended. Its shell is impervious to most physical and magical attacks and its magic is able to melt the ground below your feet. The Fire Tortoise will try to make you surrender before it really shows its frightening power, because longer fights strain the charge of it's Core. Only the most proficient and skilled hunters dare to venture out into the hostile Scorched Lands in order to fight this mighty giant. One of the very few ways to effectively injure a Fire Tortoise is to flip it upside down, usually with the help of earth or ice magic. This reveals the creature's much more vulnerable underside. Trivia & Lore *The Cherufe seem to respect and honor this creature, strongly discouraging any kind of hunting or destruction of Sepulchrals. *It is able to digest Engems, but Water, Ice, and Void seem to damage the creature. *The legendary hunter and sword master Mineus prided himself to cut a Fire Tortoise in half with a single swipe. Category:Creatures Category:Elementals